I Wouldn't Mind It
by onryoii
Summary: Sollux Captor is a regular at the college campus library but he doesn't take a real interest in going regularly until he meets the library assistant, Eridan Ampora.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Written for a friend who told me about one of her erisol dreams.

* * *

He never used to go to the library as frequently as he did now.

The previous reason he went was to pick up some computer tech books for his classes or to locate some fucking truck-sized excuse of a book for his boring ass English class that had given him an equally boring ass essay.

Now, he had other reasons for being there. Those of which happened to be in the form of a cute library assistant.

Long fingers ran idly over the spines of the books on the shelf as he browsed the titles before stopping on one that read 'The Study of Destiny vs. Fate' The book took up a good five inches worth of space on the shelf and it was, ironically, the place where he had his first meeting with Eridan Ampora.

He practically remembered the event it like it was yesterday; he'd been terribly lost amongst the huge library in the middle of the college campus thanks to his friend Aradia. The girl had wanted him to pick up some book on the studies done to bodies after death but she had failed to provide him with a good direction of where to start.

The computers had been even less helpful, for once.

Out of boredom and frustration, he'd finally stopped searching aimlessly for the book that was supposed to be in some spot around the area and grabbed the first thing that looked mildly amusing. Of course, he hadn't expected to see a startled set eyes on the other side of the shelf as he'd all but ripped the book out with an growl of frustration and both men froze at once.

Oh...  
He had purple eyes.

After a moment, Sollux had found his voice and swallowed thickly, "Uh...thup?"

"Can... I, uhm... help you with somethin'?"

Hopy shit, what sort of accent was it? He couldn't place it with any region but it was the cutest fucking thing he'd ever heard oh shit no he should stop being stupid and answer. "Yeah, I'm looking for thome shitty ath book on dead bodieth. Any clueth?" He took a moment to glance him over. The large, dark glasses that sat on his nose helped to bring out the purple tint in his irises all the more. Fuck, he just screamed hipster with the way his dark hair was swept back and the way the plaid scarf wrapped around his neck. Though, he had to admit the purple stripe through his hair was pretty fucking vivid.

The initial shock seemed to have been wearing off as the male tilted the books tucked in the crook of his arm to examine the spines and a book was slid through the opening of the shelves to him. Reaching out his free hand, Sollux took it from his hands- he briefly noted the fingers of which were arranged in golden rings of different sizes and decoration- and examined the cover.

"Thientheth of the Dead, huh? Creative title."

"Didn't figure you for the mortician type."

"What? Oh, no, it'th not for me. My friend AA wanted it."

"AA?"

"Oh, uhm, Aradia."

"Oh."

An awkward silence settled into the air before the male cleared his throat, "Well, I guess I better get goin' if that's all you need."

Sollux nodded numbly until he'd thought of a little fact that failed to cross his mind originally, "Wait!" Oh, shit, smooth move Captor you just freaked him the fuck out again. "I-... What'th your name? I haven't theen you around here before, I mean."

The assistant's expression slid into a delicate smile after a moment, "Ampora."

"Ampora?" His eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully, "That'th a thrange name." Oh.

Oh. Shit, he'd probably just offended him.

He was pretty fucking relieved when Ampora simply shook his head, "Not exactly. That's my last name. My actual name's Eridan."

"Eridan." He tested it out and he liked the way it rolled of his tongue.

"And you?"

The blank look he must've given Eridan prompted the next comment that had followed.

"It's only polite, a' course. Some strange, lanky kid in a Minecraft shirt askin' for my name? I reckon I ought to get some leverage in my way."

He felt his cheeks burn at the mention of his tall stature and his liking towards computer games but he'd be damned if he backed down from the challenge now. "It'th Thollux. Thullox Captor."

God he'd never hated his lisp more than now.

But the cutie didn't even seem to mind as he repeated his name, "Sollux. I like it. Later, Sollux." He gave him one more, secretive sort of smile before sliding in a book in the gap to block off his vision of him and moved along down the row of books.

A smirk tugged at the corners of Sollux's lips as he pulled himself out of the memory and quickly sidled his way off to another area of the library. It took him a few minutes to locate the classical works section and a few minutes more to locate the book he'd been looking for. Slipping it into the stack held underneath and arm, he made his way to the check out desk where he promptly spotted the shock of purple hair waiting for him.

He tried to not appear too eager as he made his way to the desk and set down his stuff with a soft thud. Eridan didn't even respond to the presence for a moment, finishing the paragraph he was reading in his leather-bound book before he lifted his gaze to peer up at Sollux through his dark lashes.

Fuck, did he wear mascara or something because it should've been impossible for a guy to have that long of lashes.

"Hey, ED." He greeted, lips quirking into a lopsided smile, subconsciously letting his own eyes lid to peer over the rims of his glasses at the male.

"Hello, Sol." Eridan returned, pushing aside his book for the time being and stood up to pull the pile closer, grabbing the scanner for the bar codes on the backs of the books. The brief looks he threw Sollux between every other pause didn't go unnoticed and a gradual heat began to creep up the back of his neck under the intense violet eyes.

"Oh, what's this, Captor? Finally givin' in to my quality taste in literature?"

The look he'd been returning Eridan was harshly severed at the question and a blush crossed his face, "Shut up, athhole. I dethided to get it to thee what the big fuckin' hype wath with it."

"That's what you said about Les Mis too." Eridan ducked his head for a moment to bite on his lip, trying to keep a snicker down at the scowl he was given. "Don't get your panties in a bunch, Sol. Phantom of the Opera is a great fuckin' book, you won't regret it."

"I bet you wear pantieth." The teasing comment was out before he could stop it and he silently cursed himself at the devilish look he received.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Sol."

The topic was dodged with the grace of a newly born calf as he eyed the book Eridan had been reading, "And what are you reading, Mr. Fanthy Panth?"

Eridan blinked at the mention of his book and gave it a brief glance, turning back to stamping the return dates into the books, "A journal I found in the archives. It's about some pirate way back when who sailed the seas, lookin' for treasure and such. His name was Dualscar, accordin' to what I've read so far."

Sollux arched a brow lightly in response and tilted his head to the side to try to read the scrawled, cursive letters on the yellowed pages, "You and your fucking pirateth or military hithtory bullshit." A yelp left his lips as a handful of bookmarks that were nestled into a box for readers to take was unceremoniously launched into his face.

"You shut your dirty mouth, Sol! Pirates and military history are fuckin' amazin'! Do you have any idea a' the romanticism in all a' it? Oh my cod!"

"Did you really jutht say 'cod'?"

More bookmarks fluttered around him.

"It's my accent, thankyouverymuch."

A toothy grin worked its way across Sollux's face and he simply waggled his eyebrows. It wasn't the first time they'd argued about how stupid (or not) the stuff Eridan read into was.

The raging hipster was calmed the fuck down at that and he promptly pursed his lips, brows furrowing and he whipped his head away to go input some information into the computer, leaving Sollux to lean on the counter and watch, chin resting in his hand. Without really noticing what he was doing, his head cocked to the side to get a better angle in to look at the plush rump clad in dark skinny jeans. God how was it even possible for him to get those on? Not to mention it should've been criminal for them to make his lower half look that good and his imagination slowly started to get the better of him.

"Like what you see?"

It was tempting as hell to just smash his head into the desk to end his embarrassment now. "No idea what you're talking about, ED." He grumbled into his palm as he turned his head to look elsewhere. Way to go, Captor, couldn't keep your eyes to yourself. A nudge to his arm alerted him that Eridan was finished checking out his books. And it seemed Sollux hadn't creeped him out any. But that was just going on the simple clue that the look he was being given suggested that his clothes were trying to be seered off him through sheer willpower.

Well then.

"That all, Captor?"

"I figure tho." He mused in response, briefly meeting his gaze for a few breaths.

"Well, have fun readin'."

Sollux nodded quickly before gathering his books into his arms. However, he hesitated, opening his mouth to say something before quickly shutting it. No... No, that was stupid idea. It'd been a stupid idea ever since it'd originally popped into his head about a week and a half ago. There's was no way in the flaming pits of hell was he going to ask for Eridan Ampora's number without being afraid of getting shot down and crashing like the biggest loser that ever did loser.

Loserville. Population: Sollux. He was the fucking mayor.

With that thought, he turned on his heel to leave the desk.

"Be sure to finish that soon and bring it back so I can say 'I told you so'."

Sollux gracefully flipped him the bird in response.

No. Eridan was way above his level. Yet he had just been given the perfect opportunity...

"Actually," He began, turning back around to make his way to the desk, "Why don't you jutht give me your number and I can call you and gloat about how much it actually thuckth inthtead of having to wait all day for the library to open?"

His confidence died with each passing second of silence on Eridan's part, taking in the way one of his brows arched over the rim of his glasses. Gradually, a smile tugged at his lips and he eyed Sollux briefly before moving to a drawer to pull out a purple seahorse-shaped stack of Post-Its and scribbled on it. Returning, he stuck it on the cover of the first book of his pile. "Try not to lose it." He commented simply before turning his attention to another person that had come up.

Sollux practically floated his skinny ass home.

It worked.  
His cheesy ass plan worked hot fucking damn!

He was highly tempted to call Karkat and gloat about how 'the kid who wasn't going to have a fuck's chance in hell of ever getting anyone's number' had gotten some sweet digits on his fancy ass Post-It note.

But first, studying. He had a huge exam coming up and he was screwed sideways if he didn't pass.

Gloating could come later as a reward.

In the end, he got swept away in his books, trying to memorize the layout of a computer circuitry board. Honestly, why did he have to know this when he could build one himself that wasn't as complicated and ten times better? He lifted his gaze away from the book to look up to the clock on the wall; 10:45 pm. Unholy fuck, no wonder his back hurt and his stomach was making inhuman noises at him.

Pulling himself up from his chair, a small stretch of his spine made the vertebrae pop and crackle back into place. That felt so much better. He shuffled his way into the kitchen of his apartment to feel for the handle on the fridge since he'd been too much of a dumbass to bother turning on the lights. Fishing out some leftovers from the chilly depths, Sollux slid them into the microwave and waited with a loud stomach for it to heat up. Leaning back against the counter, arms folded over his chest and he scanned over the quiet room. The stack of books he'd left on the table earlier in the day caught his attention and the light from the open fridge alerted him to the Post-It note he'd forgotten stuck on top of 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Grabbing the curly tail of the seahorse, he pulled it off and examined the number scrawled across the top in flashy numbers.

Mother of God, even his handwriting was flamboyant.

The microwave beeped to signal his food was ready and he grabbed it, shutting the fridge with a foot to make his way back to his room. Carefully tip-toeing his way over scattered clothes and papers, he eventually collapsed on his bed to scarf down his food to get his sorry excuse of a stomach to kindly stop its bullshit. Setting down the empty container, Sollux plopped over onto his pillow with a content sigh, laying there limply while his dark brown and amber colored irises slid over to the purple seahorse resting on his nightstand.

Maybe... No, it was too soon to be calling him.

With that thought, Sollux grasped his pillow to his chest and rolled away from the offending seahorse to face the other wall. His attempt to ignore it succeeded for all of two minutes before he rolled back over and snatched it up along with his cell phone. After spending the better part of ten to fifteen minutes staring at the number illuminated on the screen and hovering his thumb back and forth between 'call' and 'end', he finally took a breath, "Fuck it." Before he could change his mind, he quickly jabbed the green phone symbol on the screen, listening to the ringing on the other end while his mind raced.

What if he didn't pick up?  
What if it was the wrong number and this was a cruel, cruel hoax?  
Oh sweet Jesus he was going to be so humiliated if this was a joke...

His thoughts came to a halt at the groggy, "Hll'o?" That sounded.

A brief pause.

"Uhm... Ith... Ith thith Eridan?"

There was a rustling sound before the voice sounded up and much more awake, "Captor? What are you-... At eleven?"

SHIT he'd forgotten what time it was!

He panicked, teeth digging into his lip for a moment, "Oh, yeah. I forgot. Thorry. I can hang up if you want. That wath thtupid, I should've known you'd be athleep-"

"Calm down, Sol. I'm awake now so there's no point in hangin' up... Though I'm surprised it took you this long to call."

He-... He'd known he wasn't going to wait to read the book to call? Well, Sollux supposed it'd been pretty fucking obvious but still!

"Hehe, yeah... Are you sure you don't want me to go? I feel like an ath already for calling thith late."

"You woke me up so you better fucking amuse me and stay on the phone." His tone was snappy but gentle all the same.

Sollux felt himself starting to relax and he eased back against his headboard, hugging the pillow onto his chest while adjusting his phone, "Rude. I gueth I never really athked before, but, why are you working in the library anywayth?" Most people that worked there were awkward anti-socialites- like himself- but Eridan seemed quite the opposite.

"I just took a likin' to it I guess. My Dad used to read my stories when I was little- yes about pirates shut your mouth, Sol- so it's sort of a sentimental thing really."

"Tho you're not goin' to be a writer or anything?"

"Pffft! Fuck no. I mean, I like dabbling in writin' sometimes but I prefer visual arts over that shit."

"Oooh, art. Aren't we jutht a fanthy motherfucker."

"Hey now. I could tell you were a techie nerd a mile away so don't give me any a' your bullshit, Captor." He could practically feel the sass radiating off his tone already and he casually rolled his eyes.

"Thathy McThatherthon."

He was completely unprepared for the sudden bout of laughter that sounded on the other end of the line after a brief pause. Lips pursed slightly and he narrowed his eyes into his dimly lit room, "What?" The laughter continued for a moment, suddenly muffled by what Sollux could safely assume was a pillow.

He was literally fucking crying into his pillow and, as he noted after a few seconds of listening ot it, decided he had the cutest laugh ever.

"I- I'm sorry! Oh my cod..." More muffled laughs. "But that was the funniest fuckin' thing to ever grace my ears!"

What was he-...oh.  
His lisp.

Sollux settled then for pouting quietly to himself while Eridan attempted to gather what remained of his shit and put it back together. Eventually, the laughs died down to faint giggles. The silence on Sollux's end must've alerted the male to his disapproval as a tentative voice sounded, "Sol?"

It took a few minutes of a combination of exchanged teasing about each other's vocal quirks and assuring before they finally moved on. Sollux was rather surprised to find how easy this was. Eridan was quite the chatterbox but Sollux was more than content to just sit there and listen to his voice, occasionally voicing his input or answering a question directed to him. It was only when he heard Eridan curse did he realize what time it was.

"Oh shit." He mused quickly in agreement; 3:00 am and he had class at 8:00. "I gueth I better get going." He stated, standing up so he could strip out of his jeans and into something more comfortable, setting down his phone so he could get his shirt off his head. Picking it up again, he heard Eridan give a sleepy hum in agreement.

A comfortable silence settled on the line for a moment before Eridan spoke, "Well, g'night, Sol."

"Yeah- oh wait! ED?"

"Hm?"

"Would you-" Was he really about to do this? Fuck yes he was. "Would you, I dunno, like to go out thometime?"

Silence lingered but Sollux had no idea what to expect at this point in the game.

"Where did you have in mind exactly?"

Yeah, way to go, Sollux. Should've thought of a damned place first.

"Maybe... The movieth?"

"...I don't see why not."

A breath he didn't even know he'd been holding slipped out of his mouth.  
Holy shit.

"I'll text you my address. Pick me up around six?"

Shit.

"Yeah..." He mused, tone breathless as he swallowed, "I'll, uh, I'll thee you then. 'Night, ED."

An amused hum. "G'night, Sol."

Holy fucking shit.

Spiking his phone into the mattress at the foot of his bed, Sollux let out a victorious yell before flopping onto his stomach. He'd done it.

Sollux fucking Captor had finally scored a date.

Friday evening honestly couldn't have come any slower; classes dragged by and he'd gotten scolded once in his math class for bouncing his leg too much and being generally distracting with his fidgeting. Bitch, he couldn't help it, he had shit to get done!

When he arrived home at four, Sollux wasted no time in bounding up to his apartment, dashing to the shower and most likely setting the world record for getting ready to go on a date and if that record didn't currently exist, by god, he'd just made it happen someone call the press. For once, he spent time fretting over what to wear. It was just the movies after all, nothing fancy, yet he still had the urge to dress at least somewhat decently... He eventually settled on a soft cotton, grey t-shirt that had a slight v-neck dip over his collar bones and a pair of black skinny jeans. There, at least he wasn't wearing a dorky gaming shirt or some other shit.

Unlike his clothes, his hair was a lost cause. The honey blond locks were doomed to be forever stuck in a state of flippy bullshittery. Kanaya and Rose had tried before to get the sides and back to lay the fuck down but no matter what arsenal of hair care products they pulled out his hair resisted them all.

With thirty minutes to go, he brushed his bangs from his eyes and headed out the door. Eridan didn't live too far apparently. It was a simple, eight minute drive to his... His house. He knew this neighborhood. It was the richy-rich area and apparently Ampora lived in this fancy fucking single level abode. Great. He didn't even have to get out of his car; Eridan came exiting the house a few seconds after he'd pulled up, tugging his jacket around him and burying his face into the striped scarf wrapped around his neck. He tapped lightly on the window to signal Sollux to open the door before slipping inside.

He blew on his hands for a moment to warm them up once seated inside before flashing Sollux a grin, "You look surprised to see me."

"Thurprithed to thee thith fucking houthe ith more like it. Why didn't you thay you lived in thith area?!"

A pout crossed the male's features and he scoffed, "Most people don't exactly treat you the same way when you go around spoutin' that you live in this kind a' neighborhood."

He did have a point there...  
But now that he did know where Eridan lived he was starting to get even more nervous than he previously had been. Talk about having to meet standards here.

The drive to the theater was only mildly uncomfortable but Eridan made up for it by talking about an art thing they were going to do; something about setting up a gallery to help raise money for some donation to a charity. Sollux hated to admit he wasn't paying much attention considering he was too busy having a mild panic attack. A good point of the night was he'd gotten a pretty sweet parking spot near the front so they wouldn't have to freeze their asses off in the cold November air on the walk to the front door.

He held it open for Eridan before slipping inside himself. So far, so good. Hopefully it stayed that way.

They spent a few minutes debating with each other over what movie to watch. Sollux wanted to see one of the newer Scifi's that had come out while Eridan was hell bent on watching some weird Romcom that Karkat had apparently told him about. In the end, they settled on watching an action film as long as Eridan was able to get extra butter on the popcorn to which Sollux teased him about getting fat.

He was still massaging out the sting of the punch to the arm he'd received for that one but it'd been so worth it.

Stripping out of their jackets and the like, Sollux plopped down into a seat next to Eridan, handing over his buttery popcorn while taking a sip of his extra large Coke.

"You're not a cuddler are you?" Eridan teased with a grin, snagging the drink away from him to take a sip for himself.

Unsurprisingly, it was Eridan who turned out to be the cuddler.

Not that Sollux minded.

Gradually, Eridan scooted closer to the armrest which was soon removed from between them and he tucked himself up against his side until Sollux was forced to lift his arm over his shoulders to accommodate the lack of space he now had. The movie was forgotten after a while and he instead focused on the warmth resting against his side, hand sliding down to rest against the slight curve he felt of Eridan's hip. The slight expanding of his torso as he inhaled and the way the soft material of his sweater shifted under his fingers with each breath.

Sollux almost didn't register that the movie had ended until Eridan stirred, pulling him from his thoughts. He was a little disappointed when Eridan slid out from under his arm to stand, stretching himself out with a whine, "Well, that was an interestin' movie, I'll admit. I wouldn't have thought he'd have been a double agent in the end." Violet eyes rounded over to Sollux as he picked up his jacket to pull on, "You ready to go?"

The ride back to Eridan's place wasn't as distracting as it had been at first and Sollux actually got into it with him about whether or not the beginning of the movie had been cliché or not. Eridan insisted it was 100% original while Sollux was unmoving on his opinion that it'd been taken out of some old war film and rewritten to fit the modern age. Conversation died down as he pulled into the neatly paved driveway and shut off the car for a moment, the two of them listening to the sound of the engine crackling softly as the cold air cooled it down.

"Well." Sollux stated, pulling his gaze away from the house and over to Eridan, the next set of words he'd been about to say dying on his tongue as he registered the lidded look he was getting. It was one he had gotten plenty of times in the library when dealing with Eridan.

Any chance of a recovery was cut short as Eridan removed his seat belt, the click that sounded seeming more like a gunshot in the silence. Dual colored eyes watched as the male shifted his way over the middle seat between them and closer, "Eri-" He began uncertainly before he was more or less pounced.

A grunt let his lips as Eridan's weight caught him and warm lips were against his. He froze, for a moment, until it registered what was going on. Eridan's lips were soft, almost ridiculously so and Sollux had no doubt that he used chapstick religiously. His tongue sneaked out to gingerly brush against his bottom lip.

Apparently it was cherry chapstick at that.

He felt slender fingers trailing up along his jawline from where he'd previously been holding onto his shoulders and up into his hair, tangling into it before he was pulled down more forcibly into a much deeper kiss. A tongue brushed softly against his own before trailing along the back of his teeth. It didn't help that Eridan had conveniently placed his knee between his legs and was now pressing up against his crotch.

He tensed at a particularly sensual nudge and his hands flew down to snag Eridan's waist in surprise. Eridan, on the other hand, arched into him, removing his knee from between Sollux's leg only to sling it over his hips and sit on his lap. He pulled away enough to speak and swallowed thickly, "ED-" He was cut off with another kiss, eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

"Don't think I didn't notice." Eridan mused as he pulled away, stroking his hands down Sollux's shoulders to the front of his jacket, playing idly with the buttons. "You're intimidated, aren't you?"

Sollux was severely confused until he caught the meaning behind it and his lips pursed guiltily.

"Just because I have money doesn't mean I'm goin' to be picky. I take what I want." Eridan piped up, a seductive smile spreading over his lips, eyes trailing down to look at the male he was sitting on, "And I know what I want." He mused, tugging on the front of his jacket to pull him down into another kiss, hips rolling forwards to grind against Sollux's steadily growing erection.

Jesus fuck this guy could work his hips!

Sollux tightened his fingers with a moan, tugging the male closer against him, as those lips moved down to kiss against his neck, soft nibbles sending sparks straight down.

"Eridan, shit." He hissed, feeling a hand dip below the waistband of his pants to brush against his dick and he instinctively bucked into the touch, head falling back against the head rest of his seat and Eridan took it as a sign to turn his attention down against the junction of his neck and shoulder.

He was panting by this point and Eridan didn't even seem to be hardly effected by what he was doing... Other than the erection he was sporting himself but it wasn't showing elsewhere. Grinding his teeth together for a moment in thought, Sollux grasped onto his arms and flipped them around to corral him into the corner of the seat and door, nestling himself between his legs.

"You're thuch a fucking teathe..." he growled lowly against his ear, biting down onto the appendage as he unbuttoned his designer jacket, hands feeling out the bottom of the shirt, under, and upwards.

His skin was smooth as hell too.

Eridan let out a small noise that bordered on a keen as Sollux ground his hips down against Eridan's, attempting to twist away from the attack on his ear and now throat as Sollux kissed his way down. His gaze lifted as he felt Eridan's fingers dig into his shoulder with a gasp as his fingers sought out a nipple, rising upright slightly but Sollux was quick to put a stop to that and forced him back down against the seat, "No, no, I don't think tho." He purred, grabbing the end of Eridan's scarf to pull him into another kiss, swallowing the male's heavy breaths.

The car was filled with the sounds of panting and moans followed by a startled yelp of surprised pleasure as Sollux located the sensitive junction of his hip and thigh. Teeth and tongue and lips battled one another as Sollux's hands ran down Eridan's sides to grab onto his waist, their hips rolling against one another with sensual waves that had him hard enough to make his decision to wear skinny jeans regrettable. But he certainly did appreciate Eridan's consideration to wear his own pair of light grey jeans since they helped him locate the curve of his ass which he was more than happy to knead underneath his fingers, dipping them down between his thighs to press up against the perineum, just gently enough to earn a muffled moan against his lips.

"W-wait..." Eridan gasped between kisses.

Sollux barely registered what Eridan was doing but he probably should've been as Eridan's hand sought out the handle on the door and gave it a tug. A yelp left his lips as they both damn near rolled out onto the cement but Sollux, thankfully, managed to avoid that by removing an arm from around Eridan to catch the frame of the door.

Eridan, in the meantime, disentangled himself from around Sollux and slid out with a shaky breath and flushed cheeks. Ringed fingers raked through his mused hair before he flashed Sollux a smile, grabbing his face to press a small kiss against his lips, "Now, now. Not on the first date. I don't swing like that, sir."

Sollux stared, baffled, "What?"

Another small kiss.

"Try again next time though." With that, Eridan let out a soft, needy sigh, clearly giving Sollux a once over as if he was considering changing his mind. But no, he released Sollux's chin in favor of making his way to his front door, unlocking it while he threw a smile over his shoulder.

Once he'd disappeared, Sollux was still seated where he'd been left and just as stunned, if not more-so. Eventually, he shut the door once it got too cold and started up his car. While he was severely pissed about being left with a raging boner and steamed windows, he was also aware of the fact that- from the sound of it- he'd gotten accepted onto a second date.

A sudden buzzing in his pocket caught his attention and he grabbed his cell phone from it.

AA: hey  
AA: h0w was y0ur date  
TA: what?  
AA: y0u kn0w  
AA: i really didnt need that b00k  
TA: ...  
TA: oh my god  
AA: i set y0u guys up g00d didnt i 0u0  
AA: amp0ra and i have been friends f0r a while n0w  
AA: he was interested and i th0ught y0u'd like him  
AA: clearly y0u did  
AA: hey  
AA: s0llux  
AA: i win


	2. Chapter 2

"It wath the biggetht mind fuck I've ever had in my entire life! Not to mention it wath completely fucking humiliating!"

Clouded, dark brown eyes rolled lightly at the choked sob that sounded from the sulking computer geek whose face was buried into his hands, glasses pushed up onto the top of his head so as not to get them smudged and squished in his bout of angst.

"You're just being dramatic."

Fingers parted just enough to shoot a glare at the blind girl sitting across from him and Sollux scoffed, "I am _not _being dramatic, TZ. I fucked up bad. I'm sure he'th thitting at home in hith fanthy ath thofa and having a good ol' fucking laugh ath we thpeak."

The thud that sounded in Terezi's ears was enough indication that Sollux had let his head fall onto the counter of their booth and she sighed, reaching across the table to feel for the cold glass of the milkshake Sollux had hardly touched.

"You going to finish this?"

A groan.

"Sweet deal, Captor."

Pulling the glass to her, she located the straw stuck in strawberry milkshake and took a thoughtful sip. "Why don't you just call him and ask then?" When she didn't get an immediate reply, a foot shot out to kick his shin.

"Captor."

"Whh_aaaaat?_!"

"How am I supposed to give you a deep and uplifting motivational speech if you won't even pay attention?"

Sollux begrudgingly lifted his head from the table with a sigh, pushing his glasses back down onto his nose and raking his fingers back through his hair, "Fine, lay it on me, TZ."

A hand felt down underneath the table to locate the fluffy head of her Golden Retriever, lips quirking into a frown, "Why do you think you fucked up so bad, Sollux? It didn't sound like anything went wrong to me. Well... Aside from him leaving you high and dry in your car." She added on with a delighted giggle that sent heat rushing up the back of Sollux's neck.

He should've known better than to let her in on _that _particular event.

"I dunno..." He drawled, slouching onto the counter, an arm propped up so he could rest his cheek in the palm. He reached across the table to take the milkshake from Terezi and took a quick sip before sliding it back, "It'th jutht... Well, you've theen me!"

The deadpan look he got from Terezi was answer to that and he couldn't help but smirk.

"Figuratively thpeaking anywayth. But, theriouthly! I'm, what, bordering on thixth-three, lanky ath _fuck_, i like computerth and coding more than ith probably healthy, and thith _god forthaken lithp_! TZ! I'm such a-... a-..."

"Nerd."

"Thankth..." Sollux drawled, frowning disapprovingly at the wide grin he was met with.

"I thought I'd find you here."

The familiar voice sent a dose of irritation through his system and he promptly scowled as Aradia sat down beside him. She'd been his neighbor since they were little but once they were old enough to go to college, Sollux had moved into an apartment and Aradia rented a place with her boyfriend.

Their past friendship did _not_ excuse her from getting the silent treatment.

"Oh, come _on_!" She encouraged when the male turned to the side to look elsewhere. Lifting an elbow, she prodded at his ribs until he started squirming and was forced to sit normally, "You can't say I didn't do a good job!"

"I should've _known _you'd thet me up, AA! You're alwayth in cahootth with thomeone!"

"He's having a mental breakdown because Ampora's playing hard to get." Terezi supplied, grinning as Sollux let out an enraged growl.

Aradia smiled and sighed, "I told you, Sollux! I talked about you a few times and he was interested." She turned her gaze onto Sollux who's expression had slid from anger into something more fearful than anything else; brows furrowed upwards and lips set into a line. Frowning softly, Aradia lifted a hand to rest it on his shoulder, "Are you really this worried about it, Sollux?"

"He'th probably fucking _rolling _in money, AA. I mean, thomeone like him _hath _to have theriouth thtandardth and there'th no way _I_ fit that bill."

Despite his obvious internal dilemma, Aradia couldn't help but smile, shaking her head softly. "Sollux, stop it. You're being stupid again."

"Gee, everyone'th being _tho_ nithe today."

"Listen." Aradia encouraged with an exasperated sigh, "Remember Feferi?"

Feferi... Yeah, he remembered her. She was a girl that'd been in biology with him and Aradia senior year of high school. "Yeah. She moved to Florida though, didn't she? To thtudy marine biology or thomething..."

"She grew up with Eridan." Despite the way Sollux's brows arched in surprise, Aradia continued. "She was his adopted sister and they're really close. Before she moved she asked me to check up on him at the library for her whenever I went there since we were friends and all that. Yeah, he is rich. So what? I've been over to his place, oh mygod, you should _see _his room. Not to mention his taste in music and movies though that's not too hard to guess just from seeing what stuff he reads, am I right? Just..." She trailed off to chew on her lip thoughtfully, inhaling a breath and releasing it in a huff, "Give it a chance. You had fun, didn't you?"

"...I gueth..."

"Don't give me that, I know you had fun."

Apparently it was 'everyone fucking delve into Sollux Captor's dating life' day.

Aradia chose to ignore the look she was being given, "See? You're just freaking out over nothing. Call him again and set up another date."

"But-"

"Sollux. Date. Call him." Aradia demanded, picking up his phone from the table and shoving it in his hand, "Do it. No excuses. Come on, Terezi, let's blow this popsicle stand."

As she stood, Terezi slid out of the booth as well, patting her leg to get her dog to follow along and grabbed onto the handles of his harness. Leaning over, she flashed a quick grin over to Sollux and ruffled his hair, "Stop being so moody and paranoid and have fun for once."

And then he was alone.

Sollux retrieved the half-consumed milkshake from across the table to sip on, eyeing the phone clutched in his hand thoughtfully.

Should he?

_Would _he?

If Eridan really was how Aradia claimed he was... Then he wouldn't mind dating someone like him and it wouldn't be just out of pity or for laughs like he originally feared it was.

Fine.

He'd take a flying fucking backflip off the cliff of chances here.

While he sipped the creamy treat idly through his straw, Sollux flipped through his limited contacts- a grand total of 6 people- and down Eridan's name. Sighing through his nose, he pressed his finger into the 'call' button and listened to the ringing on the other end.

It took a while and Sollux wondered if he was even going to pick up. He couldn't help but have the mild moment of panicked thoughts from the prior night; what if he didn't pick up?

Just as he'd suspected the voice mail would pick up for him, the ringing stopped followed by a quick, "Hello?"

"Eridan?" Sollux ventured, a brow arching lightly at the voice.

"Oh, hey, Sol."

Sollux paused in mid-sip, eyes narrowing slightly at nothing as the distracted tone of Eridan's voice registered.

"What'th wrong?"

"Huh?" He sounded startled at the question but soon gave a breathless chuckle, "Oh, nothin'. I'm just tired is all. Didn't get much sleep."

A small hum left his lips in response, sipping some more milkshake before he spoke again, "Tho, are you buthy today?"

His attention seemed to focus in considerably more at that and an amused breath of air sounded against the phone, "I didn't scare you off?"

_'Almost.'_

"Not quite." He supplied instead, swirling the straw around his glass. "You buthy right now?"

"Nope. Come over if you want."

"'Kay. Be there in a few."

As the familiar house pulled into view, Sollux zipped up his jacket and got out of his car, tilting his head back to look up at the structure of the place as he made his way up the walk.

Holy shit it was even nicer up close.

As he lifted his hand to knock on the door, it was suddenly opened before his knuckles could make contact and a confused look landed on Eridan who flashed a grin at him, "Hello to you too, Sol." He stepped aside to let Sollux in before shutting the door behind him.

Out of courtesy, Sollux decided it was best to take off his shoes and he stepped on the back of his heels to pull them off, leaving them at the door before wandering further into the house after Eridan. It was relatively simple in design but _god damn _if it wasn't fancy. The floor was shiny, warm-brown colord wood and the walls were painted a warm beige with a dark wood framing the top and bottom. The large windows were framed with cream colored curtains pulled back to let in sunlight. And the furniture... _Definitely _some quality shit there.

But what caught his interest the quickest was the aquarium at the other end of the room, "Wat'th that?" He ventured, wandering over to get a better look. It was a salt-water tank, without a doubt. There were brightly colored fish everywhere and Sollux had no idea what more than half of them even were.

"It's my aquarium."

Sollux snorted softly at that and tilted his head up to examine the fish swimming above his head, "No shit... Damn." It was an impressive aquatic collection, he'd have to admit. He was quick to note something of particular interest.

"Holy-..." He mused, kneeling down to get a better look at the silvery-white seahorse fluttering in the water, "You have a theahorthe?"

A fond smile crossed Eridan's face at once and he nodded, "Yeah. His name's Nereus. I've had him since he was little."

After a few moments of floundering at the glass like a kid at Sea World, Sollux finally pried himself away, "Do you wanna go do thomething tonight?"

Eridan's face fell slightly and Sollux immediately cringed, "I mean... If you're not buthy."

The look on Sollux's face made it register to Eridan what his own face must've looked like and he quickly shook his head, "Oh, no! I mean, I'd _like _to, but... _Cod_." He made his way over to the couch and plopped down on it, fingers sliding up underneath his glasses to rub at his eyes with a heavy sigh, "I've just got this huge fuckin' art project due in a couple days and I have _no fuckin' idea_ what I'm goin' to do for it and I'm fuckin' screwed if I don't do it."

Sollux pursed his lips and made his way over to the couch, sitting down next to the male, reaching out a hand to grab hold of his wrist and pulled it away so he could look at him better. Eridan paused, opening his eyes to look back at him, a brow raised in question. He definitely looked tired. There were dark rings under his eyes and Sollux wouldn't doubt he hadn't eaten anything yet.

"You look like shit."

Eridan snorted softly at his comment and swatted at his arm, "Gee thanks. I've been up all night freakin' out about it."

"Why doethn't that thurprithe me?" he mused, patting Eridan's hand lightly before letting him flop over onto his side and bury his face into a pillow. His attention instead turned his attention onto the fish bowl settled on the coffee table in front of him.

Another fish?

Leaning down, he was immediately greeted to the sight of a betta swimming lazily around the castle, the light filtering through the glass catching the dark- nearly black- scales and turning them a warm wine color as he turned. "Who'th thith?"

Eridan peeked up from the pillow to see what Sollux was talking about and sat up, "That's Dimitri. Fef-... A friend got him for me before she...moved."

Sollux looked up from the fish at the mention of Feferi. Fuck, the guy looked like he was on the verge of tears.

And Sollux Captor did _not _like seeing people cry. It was just fucking awkward and he felt useless when it happened.

He prodded gently at the glass bowl, watching the fish inside react at once; darting towards the offending digit, fins flaring up to reveal the same dark wine color at the base of the fins before it tapered out into violet and then black at the ends. "He'th a fiethty fucker." He mused, grinning at the flared gills, "Kinda like thomeone elthe I know- gah! Hey!" He lifted a hand to rub the back of his head that had been swatted.

"Quit bein' a smart ass and stop teasin' my fish!"

He lifted his hands in surrender, "Fine, fine." He drawled, resting his chin on a hand as he watched the hipster stare thoughtfully at his fish with a smirk.

"Thinthe you won't go out... How about we cook dinner here?"

Eridan expression slid into a disbelieving look, "_You _cook?"

"That hurtth. Of courthe I do!"

Okay, so that may have been a bit of a lie but he had never cooked pasta before.

"Sol, you're a dirty fuckin' liar." Eridan mused, watching the blond eye the knife in his hand like it was some unnatural growth.

"Shut up, ED! I know what I'm fucking doing!"

Two hours of bickering with each other about how much of what ingredient to add to the sauce, nearly cutting his finger off once or twice, and one pot of boiled-over water later, they were finished.

Both males stared silently at the grand concoction of 'what-the-fuck' they just made. It didn't look anything like the fancy pasta recipe Eridan picked out was supposed to. The noodles were practically shredded and the layer of cheese that was supposed to have hardened slightly in the oven was still mushy and the sauce a bit too runny.

He looked up as Eridan left his side and walked over to his fridge, eyeing over some of the papers magnetized to the front before he pulled a few brochures down and held them up for Sollux to read over.

"Chinethe?"

"Unless you wanna eat _that_."

Sollux gave a glance to the messy glob in the pan before him- he would swear up and down for anyone that asked him to retell the story at a later date that it gurgled at him- and promptly wrinkled his nose, "Give me that thing."

"You jutht _had _to pick the hardetht rethipe..."

"Hey, who's the one that when it said to 'julienne carrots' it actually meant 'chop up in chunks'?"

"Who the fuck even knowth what 'julienne' meanth?!"

"I do!"

"Oh my _god _you would."

They swatted at each other for a few seconds before settling back down; Eridan stretched out across Sollux's lap to lean against the arm rest of the couch while Sollux himself had his feet propped up on the coffee table, chinese take-out box in hand as he slurped noodles.

Instead of working on his project like he'd originally planned, Eridan had ended up watching television with Sollux, cewing idly on his sweet and sour chicken.

"Feeling better?"

The question must've caught Eridan by surprise because he stayed quiet for a few moments before he nodded, "Yeah. I guess so."

A frown crossed Sollux's lips and he gave an indignant huff, "You 'gueth tho'? I thought I did a good job mythelf."

Eridan chuckled for a moment, his free hand reaching up to wind his fingers into the honey blond hair and yanked him closer, catching the end of the noodle that'd been in mid-slurp between his teeth. The deer-in-the-headlights look on Sollux's face only made him grin, eyes lidding softly as he sucked the remainder of it into his mouth until their lips connected in a soft kiss. Sollux could only sit there as Eridan's teeth broke off the noodle, simultaneously biting against his bottom lip. A soft caress of his tongue was soon to follow before it was gone almost as quickly as it had happened.

"You did."

Not really sure what to do, Sollux couldn't stop the ridiculously dorky grin that crossed his face.

"Thweet."

Another thing Sollux discovered that night was that Eridan Ampora was cuddly as fuck when he was sleepy.

Their food had been finished a few minutes ago and now with a full belly and lack of sleep weighing down his system, Eridan had latched onto Sollux as soon as he'd shimmied his position down to lay on the couch and he now had a sleepy hipster lounging on his chest, head nestled underneath his chin.

He was surprisingly warm and Sollux was perfectly content to let him stay there, arms having wound themselves around his middle as he absently watched the pictures on the screen of the tv; the other half of his attention focused on the soft breaths coming from Eridan. Was he asleep? He hadn't moved at all lately... Great. If he was, it meant he was going to have to camp out on the couch for the night or somehow manage to maneuver him to his bed.

Wherever the fuck that was.

Just as he was considering getting up to move him, Eridan began to move on his own. Blinking some, his gaze turned down at the mused strip of purple hair as Eridan started to sit up, glasses skewed from resting against him. He blinked blearily, rolling over slightly to lift a hand, taking off his glasses and rubbed the heel of his palm against an eye. Eridan soon flopped back over onto him with and groggy mumbling into the crook of his neck.

"Did you jutht athk me what time it ith?"

"Mnnn..."

"It'th nine." Sollux replied, examining the lit screen of his phone.

A dramatic groan.

"I know. You're a thleepy head. But you gotta go to bed."

Eridan remained quiet, eventually lifting himself up enough to blow a few loose strands of his wavy hair out of his eyes, "Maybe I don't wanna go to bed."

"Don't thath me. You need to."

A small squeak left his mouth as Eridan scooted up further, hands sliding through the flippy ends of his hair to pull their faces closer, the warm breath ghosting across his lips making him swallow softly. He stared quietly up at him; brown and amber meeting violet for a few moments, noses bumping against each other gently as Sollux leaned closer, lips parting slightly to mingle with Eridan's exhales.

He should've remembered what it was like kissing Eridan from the previous night but he still wasn't fully prepared for it. While Sollux was more of a cautious person, leading up slowly to the big finale so to speak, Eridan seemed to be the type to dive right in and _fucking hell _was he good at it. But he didn't expect him to shift gears so suddenly from last night. Maybe it was just because he was sleepy or maybe it was because he was just trying to rile him up but he couldn't say he didn't like the lazy kisses he was being given.

They were soft and quick but with just enough pressure to make Sollux want something longer. Eridan must've picked up on his mild distress because the kisses soon lingered longer against his lips; tongue brushing softly along his bottom lip to draw it between Eridan's where it was sucked and nibbled on. That tongue soon found it's way into his mouth, running along the back of his teeth with soft sucks every now against the tip of Sollux's tongue as it flicked back against Eridan's

When he finally pulled away, Sollux could only stare in a stunned silence despite the grin on Eridan's face.

"Speechless, Sol?"

"Pretty fucking thomething _jethuth_.."

A soft chuckle sounded in Eridan's chest before he grew silent, lounging back down on the male to watch the television.

"Do you really have to go?"

"Yeah, I don't know about you but I have clatheth tomorrow."

"_Fine_..."

"Don't be like that." He scolded with a grin, sitting up with a soft grunt and squeezed Eridan against him in a hug, pressing a quick kiss against his forehead, "I know you have clatheth too and you haven't thlept any."

Eridan slid off to let him up and followed to the door, leaning against the frame of the entryway to the living room as he watched him put his shoes back on. Once he'd straightened up, zipping the front of his jacket in the process, Eridan approached him again and stopped to give him a curious look.

Nothing was said to him as Eridan grabbed his face, eyes scanning over him for a few minutes and Sollux felt his brows eventually furrow.

"What?"

"Hm? Oh, nothin' really... You have pretty eyes, you know?"

Sollux felt his cheeks flare up with heat.

"I think I know what I'm goin' to paint now." He added on, a secretive smile crossing his lips.

He was released and side-stepped so Eridan could open the front door and was promptly ushered out the door with quick smack to his ass as he passed.

"Hey!" Sollux exclaimed, turning around to rub the assaulted spot, scowling at the grin he was given.

"G'night, Sol." He replied, closing the door before the lanky male had time to throw a comeback after him.

Eyeing the door for a few seconds, Sollux finally tucked his hands into his pockets with a sigh, a smirk crossing his lips as he headed to his car, "Yeah. 'Night, ED."


	3. Chapter 3

He hadn't seen Eridan all week it seemed like...

Okay, so he _had _seen him in the library when he went there to pick up a few things or return the computer book he'd checked out earlier the previous week.

And Eridan _had _snagged him by the front of his shirt and dragged him into the back room behind the check out desk, giving him a prompt scolding about 'that tacky fuckin' sweater vest' and proceeded to suck face with owner of said ensemble for the next five minutes before he was pushed back out into the open.

"Thweater vethtth are _not _tacky, ED." He commented curtly with a smug smirk, letting the fashion know-it-all adjust the tie that'd been tugged loose at some point amongst all the bumping and grinding in the back room.

"Yes they are, Sol. Now get out of here before I take drastic measures and burn that cod awful piece a' clothing."

But other than that, Sollux hadn't been able to actually spend time with him.

Schoolwork, work, that painting he refused to let Sollux so much as inquire about...

He didn't expect to get a call at 3am Friday morning from him though.

The combination of tingling chimes and buzzing broke through the haze of quiet in his mind and it was promptly followed by a low growl of agitation.

Who the fuck actually _called _someone when they were sleeping?!

The dull buzzing of his phone against the table finally made him snap and he rolled over to lunge for the device, nearly taking out the bedside table in the process.

Squinting his eyes to try to shield them from the glare of the screen. Attempting to focus in on the numbers and letters all at the same time was more difficult than he would've thought it was at first. But he managed to make out 'Eridan' on the screen after a few seconds of getting his eyes to adjust.

Fucking-

"What?!" He demanded, flopping back down onto the pillows, phone pressed to his ear, "ED, do you know _what _time it ith? It'th..." He paused to pull the phone away to look again, "Three fourteen. I'm trying to _thleeeeeep_." The last syllable trailed off into a whine of desperation as he curled in on himself, tugging the blanket over his head.

"Shut up, Sol! There's much more important things goin' on than your petty sleep!"

"Like _what_, exthactly?"

"Look outside!"

"ED!"

"Now, Sol!"

A long, angsty moan slid past his lips and the male made sure to make the process as long as he possible could; kicking the covers off his long legs before slowly wriggling his way to the edge of the bed and rolling off onto the ground.

The thud must've alerted Eridan to what he was doing because the muffled voice from the phone a distance away in his hand snorted, "Seriously, Sol? Oh my cod..."

"'Oh my cod'..." Sol drawled sarcastically in response, clambering to his feet in the process, "Tho what am I looking at exthactly?"

"Just look!"

Sollux slipped his fingers between his blinds, pushing them apart to get a look at the dreaded world beyond his comfortable room.

"It'th thnowing."

"Yeah!"

"Tho?"

The line fell silent for all of three seconds.

"So? _So_?! Don't just say _'so'_, Sol! It's snowin'! They canceled school and it's snowin'!"

Despite his mildly sour attitude about being woken up early hadn't quite let just yet and he arched a brow.

"What are you? Three?"

"...Jerk."

"Yeah, yeah. Tho you called me jutht for that or what? Becauthe otherwithe I'm going back to thleep sinthe apparently we don't have clatheth."

The giddyness on the other end slowed to a calm and he heard the phone being shifted around, Eridan presumably trying to find a more comfortable position for it.

"Oh, uhm. Nothin' really... I just... No, it's stupid. Nevermind. Forget I said anythin'."

Sollux's brows furrowed slightly in resposne to is hurried words, "ED, did you want me to-"

"_No. _It's nothin'! Just go back to sleep already. Sorry for wakin' you u-"

"ED!"

The rambling on the other end fell silent at the exclamation.

"Did you want me to come over?"

It was quiet for a few breaths before his boyfriend's voice spoke up again, softer than it had been previously. "Yeah."

"Well, why didn't you jutht thay tho?"

"Well you didn't exactly sound like you were up to the idea, _Sol_."

He briefly recalled the fact he had been kind of snappy with him and he _had _sounded kind of hurt by it when Sollux shot down his excitement on the matter.

Heaving a sigh, Sollux lifted a hand, rubbing his fingers into his eyes, "I'm _thorry_, okay? I'm jutht tired."

"Yeah..."

Shit. He was pouting wasn't he? He was fucking pouting.

"Look, I'll come over later today. I got thome shit to do firtht though."

"..."

"ED?"

"I guess..."

"Come on, don't be like that. I'll make it up to you." When he got an absent hum in response, he rolled his eyes.

Of course _he _had to date the drama queen.

"I gotta go. I'll thee you later, ED."

He made it to his house a little after three once he'd finished doing his rounds at the grocery store to restock his fridge and some other little side trips. He probably would've been there earlier if he hadn't decided that sleeping in until ten was a _wonderful_ way to spend his morning.

He already knew he was going to get an earful from Eridan for taking so long.

Boots crunched their way up the sidewalk to Eridan's door and he'd just lifted a hand to knock when the door was all but ripped off the frame and he was face with a pair of stormy violet eyes, a sheepish grin working its way across his face.

"Ehehehe... Hey, ED."

"Mhmm." He hummed in response, dark brows furrowed over the rims of his glasses, arms folded firmly over the front of the dark sweater he wore.

Sollux let the smile on his face slip away under the glare, lips pursing together nervously. After a moment, he retracted an arm from behind his back, revealing the bright orange carrot in his hand. As expected, Eridan's glare faltered to show a hint of curiosity as to why this lanky male on his doorstep was holding a vegetable out like some sort of peace offering.

A grin spread over Sollux's lips.

"Tho... Wanna make a thnowman?"

It'd only taken Eridan a few seconds longer of reluctant pissed-offery before he finally disappeared back inside to go get his fancy-ass pea coat and his fucking striped scarf. Sollux hadn't seen him without it once this winter and as anal as he was about 'shakin' up my attire, Sol, you can't wear the same thing every day', he seemed pretty content to keep that scarf with him.

"Ready now, printheth?"

He received a solid punch to the arm for his troubles as Eridan passed him to hop down the steps to the snowy yard.

Hissing slightly at the tingling that was currently traveling down the abused limb, Sollux tramped off after , it really had snowed pretty good. The snow ended almost at the tops of his boots and the stuff was thick. Perfect snowman-making snow really. They hadn't had a good snow like this since... What, two years ago? Almost.

"You goin' to help or what, Sol?"

Heterochromatic eyes turned away from the cloudy sky to look back to Eridan who was in the process of forming a small snowball and let it plop down onto the ground below him, gloved hands pushing it forwards as it began to pick up more of the fluffy white stuff around it.

"Oh, yeah." He replied, slipping the carrot into his back pocket so he could drop down to his knees and helped roll along the gradually growing ball of snow. They paused every now and then to stop and pat out the lumps or deformations in the ball of snow. Sollux face planting into the snow once with a yelp as it rolled out from under him unexpectedly when Eridan pushed it without him.

Once he'd gotten the snow off of his glasses, Sollux was more than happy to grab onto Eridan's leg and yanked him towards him, the two eventually rolling around as Eridan tried to get away and Sollux snagged him whenever he attempted an escape.

He rolled to a stop when he nearly ended up on the street, arms clasped around Eridan. Brown and amber eyes fluttered shut for a moment as Eridan pushed his glasses back up his nose for him. Grinning stupidly, Sollux opened his eyes to peer up at the male. His usually neat and stylish hair was ruffled and damp from the snow getting caught in it and a few stray flakes clung to the curled strands resting against his forehead and his lashes. Blood rushing into his face due to cold and exertion turned them a faint cherry color.

_Cutie_.

They stared silently at one another, Eridan's violet eyes flickering away from his to look down to his lips before back up; noses brushed together with a feather-like touch and warm breath fanned out across his own lips. Thumbs brushed across the line of Sollux's jaw just before Eridan's lips pressed into his. Sollux lifted his own hands to ran his fingers through the side of his boyfriend's messy hair, curling the digits into the wavy locks to pull him closer, tilting his head slightly to meld their lips together. A soft lick against his lips was signal for him to part his lips and he was instantly greeted to a tongue running along the side of his own. A small hum sounded from Eridan as one of Sollux's hands drifted down to wrap around his waist and the warm body tucked against his own instinctively pressed closer.

The sudden blaring of a horn startled the two from their kiss and they sat up in time to see a car go flying past with a few sharp whistles and laughs.

"Oh my cod..." Eridan groaned, sliding off Sollux to lay in the snow, the tips of his ears turning a fierce red that definitely wasn't from cold.

"What'th wrong?" Sollux ventured, watching the taillights continue on down the road.

"Those were my neighbors..."

His neighbors...

Sollux chuckled deviously to himself at the thought. No doubt Eridan was going to get questioned about who he was macking on outside of his house.

"You'll live. Come on, we have to finish thith thnowdude."

"It's snow_man_, Sol."

They positioned the largest of the snow balls outside Eridan's window, the two of them working together to pick up the second and Sollux positioned the third since he could reach it easily. Reaching into his pocket, he located the carrot that had- by some grace of god- had managed to remain intact despite being rolled on and stuck it in the face of the snowman. Eridan had disappeared around the side of the house to go locate a few rocks from his frozen garden and formed a smile with them just below the carrots.

"It's missin' somethin'." Eridan commented, standing next to Sollux to examine their handy work.

"I think I know what."

Sollux reached out a hand to tug on Eridan's scarf, "One of thethe."

"Not mine!"

"Well, go get another one then."

Eridan pondered it over for a while and Sollux honestly wouldn't be surprised if he had no scarves he was willing to give up. But finally, he disappeared inside, quickly returning with a lime green and dark green striped scarf in hand. He wound it around the snowman's neck.

"You really gave up a thcarf?"

"Shut up, Sol! I only wore it once and that color is completely out a' season now."

They stood in the snow for a few minutes longer before Eridan finally nudged him in the side.

"C'mon. Let's go warm up."

He didn't realize how cold he was until the heat inside Eridan's house hit his face, sending a tingling sensation across the skin of his cheeks.

"Oh thweet jethuth..." He breathed, shivering as he stamped snow off of his boots and almost made to walk into the house until Eridan snagged his elbow.

"What are you doin'? Take off your boots!"

Making a face, Sollux bent down to unlace them enough so he could kick them off next to the wall in the general area of where Eridan had neatly placed his side by side. Shrugging his coat from his shoulders, he let Eridan take it to go hang up somewhere to dry off and left the lanky male in the living room to wander over to the aquarium, locating the tiny little seahorse inside. The way his tiny little fins fluttered when he moved had to be one of the single cutest things he'd ever seen before.

"I don't think Ner appreciates you ogglin' him like that."

Sollux's tongue slipped between his lips childishly in response but he left the glass tank and made his way over to Eridan who had a blanket in hand. He'd switched into a pair of dry jeans and had a pair of jeans.

Offering them up to Sollux he smirked, "They were my brother's. He's nearly as tall as you are so they'll fit... Though not as scrawny."

After having swatted Eridan for calling him scrawny, he took the jeans and disappeared to go change into them. They did fit, surprisingly, but were too big around the waist. Thankfully, Eridan had supplied him a belt.

"Come on, I think you'll like this." He commented, motioning for Sollux to follow as he led the way into a back room that he hadn't seen before. The furniture here was more ornate than in the living room but that was probably due to the fact that there was a fire place and not a flat screen tv. It was lined with dark grey stones and covered with a screen that could be opened whenever.

"Wow..." He mused, walking towards the fireplace, "How do you thtart it? Ith it one of the oneth that you have to go chop down a fucking tree to thtart or-"

Flames suddenly lept to life as Eridan turned a black rod on the side of the stones.

"Oh, it'th one of thothe fanthy gath oneth, huh?"

"Sorry to disappoint, Sol, but I'm not choppin' down any trees just to get it to ignite."

Eridan had left to go fix them some hot chocolate and Sollux busied himself with collecting as many blankets and pillows that he could find on the couches and in the closet, throwing them all onto the floor a safe distance away from the fireplace and flopped down in the middle of the pile. He was in the middle of rolling around amongst the soft fabrics and pillows when Eridan returned, mugs in hand and a brow raised as he watched the lanky male.

"What are you doin'?"

"Making a netht."

"You're not a bird, Sol."

"Jutht shut up and come here. You'll thee. It'th _tho_ comortable."

He took a mug from Eridan before shimmying aside to let Eridan sit down as well, taking a sip of the warm beverage as Eridan situated himself.

"I guess it's not bad."

"Not bad? ED. Not _bad_? It'th heavenly!"

They fell into silence, sipping on their drinks and leaning against one another's sides. Normally Sollux would've tried to start a conversation but it was...relaxing. The fire crackling and popping helped add to the toasty feeling of the room. When the drinks had been finished, Eridan took the empty mugs back to the kitchen and returned, tucking himself amongst the blankets and against Sollux's side.

"Thleepy?"

"A little."

Sollux hummed, seconds later moving to grab onto the male and pulled him onto his lap, allowing Eridan to tuck his head underneath his chin as he shifted around. Tilting his head downwards, he pressed a small kiss against the side of his head, nuzzling into the wavy hair and musing the vibrant purple stripe all the more.

"My hair's already a wreck, Sol."

"I like it methy."

"That's what she said."

"Oh my god, you theriouthly jutht didn't uthe that on me."

"I 'theriouthly' just did."

A snort slipped past his lips and Sollux rolled his eyes, "You're thuch a lother."

"Who's a loser?"

He opened his mouth to reply but was silenced with a kiss, Eridan's teeth grazing against his lips as he pulled away, gaze roaming across Sollux's face with a grin.

"I thought so."

He leaned back in for another kiss that Sollux was more than happy to accept. As their tongues played and pushed against each other, Sollux found his hands wandering down Eridan's warm back towards the back of his pants; fingers dipping into the hemline until Eridan gave a muffled squeak of surprise into his lips and bucked towards him reflexively.

"Your hands are cold." He murmured against his lips, a hand reaching back to grab one of the thin wrists with a scowl.

"Thorry thome of uth aren't built like a natural furnathe. And I didn't have gloveth, now did I?"

"Whose fault was that?!"

"Jutht shut up and kith me already."

He was quick to smother down any other snarky remarks that could be said, pushing his hands the rest of the way down Eridan's pants. If his hands were cold, he was sure this plush rump he had pressed against the palms of his hands would warm them up pretty quick. He wasn't all that prepared for when Eridan suddenly started gyrating his hips forwards, pressing his hips down just right against his crotch and he gave a choked moan after the first few rubs. Fingers pressed into the supple yet firm flesh of his ass as Sollux tugged him closer, breaths coming out harder than before as blood started moving below his belt.

_Shit_.

He grunted softly as Eridan's lips moved away from his own to run his tongue against the underside of his jaw and all the way up to the pulse thudding behind his ear, teeth biting down against the stretch of skin there. Sollux felt heat flush through the appendage and he instinctively went to duck his head until Eridan latched his lips back onto his throat, sucking the skin between his teeth with a soft hum.

Letting his head fall back against the mass of pillows and blankets behind him, Sollux let out a breath, "ED, uhm, jutht out of curiothity, what are you- mnn...doing?" The muscles in his abdomen shuddered slightly at the feeling of hands running down his stomach.

Eridan gave the red spot he'd worked onto Sollux's throat one last kiss, "Considerin' it's not our first get together, I owe you a little somethin'." He breathed, fingers moving down to unbutton his own pants before moving to work on Sollux's belt

"It'th only our third time hangin' out though..." Sollux pointed out, hissing in surprise as his pants were tugged down his hips, a hand pressing against he erection growing in his underwear.

"Sol, it's been a while, okay? I only have so much self restraint here."

Sollux rolled his eyes. Why didn't that surprise him? His thoughts slid to a stop as a warm hand slid inside his underwear and grasping his cock, eliciting a shaky gasp of pleasure, his hips pushing up into the hand. "Mother_fuck_..." He breathed, eyes squeezing shut as Eridan's hand began to stroke down his shaft, stopping every now and then at the tip to rub his thumb against curve of the head.

A soft whine from Eridan caught Sollux's attention and his eyes fluttered open to see the male's own eyes squeezed shut. It took him a few seconds to realize why.

Eridan's pants had been pushed down enough to let his own erection free and his free hand was wrapped around his own, fingers playing along the sensitive head. A red flush had worked its way across his teeth and the way his wavy hair fell into his face when he ducked his head after stroking a sensitive spot sent wave of heat through his veins. Lifting a hand, Sollux gently pulled Eridan's hand away, clearly startling the male from how his eyes fluttered open in a dazed manner. Looking away from the violet eyes peering back at him, Sollux's fingers tentatively reached out to curl around his boyfriend's cock, a thumb tracing a vein he found running along the bottom. He tightened his hold, giving the hot flesh and giving a soft squeeze at the base. Eridan gaped, violet eyes lidding themselves as his teeth digging into his bottom lip and holy fuck it was one of the sexiest things he'd ever seen.

The stroked each other until precum coated their fingers and they gasped and moaned between kisses. When Eridan's teeth dug into the crook of his neck, Sollux felt his desire boil over and he pressed Eridan back into the mass of blankets and pillows, grabbing the pant leg of his jeans and tugged them down and off his leg, not bothering to pull the other side off as he nestled himself between those soft legs; hands ghosting down the inside of his thighs while he pressed his hips forwards to grind their cocks together.

"Fuckin'-... Sol, just, _fuck_, just fuck me already!" Eridan whined, arching his hips up to get as much friction as he could.

"You left me with a raging boner a few dayth ago, I should do the thame."

"Oh my- _Sol_. I will fuckin' _destroy _you."

The sudden growl to his tone made Sollux grin deviously, leaning down to kiss away the scowl on Eridan's face, "I don't even have any lube though tho-..." He fell quiet as Eridan slid a hand behind him to pull out a small tube of lubrication.

"Tho you were exthpecting thith to happen?"

"Shut up and fuck me already."

Sollux chuckled but took the tube from Eridan, squirting some of the clear gel into a hand and pulling away to smear it onto himself. It wasn't too chilly but that was probably because it'd been in Eridan's pocket at some point. Setting the bottle down, he grabbed onto Eridan's leg, pulling it aside and grabbing onto his cock to line it up with Eridan's entrance.

"Uhm... Do you need to- y'know... Thtretch out or thomething?" He mused, pressing his head towards the ring of muscle to test how much resistance he'd be faced with.

"No I'm-... Just do it already!" Eridan hissed, cheeks flushing a bright red that told Sollux he probably used his fingers plenty.

Nodding, he swallowed and pressed further into him. He wasn't at all prepared for how hot and constricting it was. He'd fucked girls before but he'd only been with one other guy so he'd never gotten used to how much different it was than doing a female. He pushed all the way up to the hilt, moaning hotly against Eridan's throat and he gave a gently thrust up into him, feeling his boyfriend's thighs tense around him with a squeak. Moving his hands, Sollux slid them under Eridan's sweater and pushed it up to his armpits, dragging the pads of this thumbs along the lines of his hips as he grasped onto them.

After a few breaths, Sollux began to move. Pulling out partially, he thrust back in, knowing he'd grazed something when Eridan yelped and grasped onto his arms. Humming softly, he kissed along the pulse thudding in Eridan's neck, teeth dragging against the warm skin as his thrusts slowed down some when Eridan latched onto his neck; fingers curling into his mused hair. Instead of using speed, he relied on pushing as deep into the male as he could, rolling his hips at the end of each thrust to hit that spot that made Eridan keen into the crook of his neck.

Breathing turned lusty and heavy as minutes passed and Sollux eventually pulled away to stare at Eridan. His hair was a complete mess by now and the purple stripe in his hair had fallen limp into his eyes. But the fire nearby cast a warm glow that bounced off the curve of his cheekbones and highlighted the tears clinging to his dark lashes and _god _he was beautiful.

A sudden tightening in his stomach made him gasp and he closed his eyes, thrusts quickening slightly with the increase of pleasure and he finally pushed into him one last time as he came, head resting against Eridan's collar bone and he felt something thick and warm splatter onto his stomach which he could safely assume was Eridan coming seconds later.

He rolled his hips into him a few more times, riding out the haze of pleasure as it died away before pulling out and sitting up enough to look at Eridan. The male was completely worn out from the looks of it. He made no protest when Sollux moved away and he was too busy trying to get his breathing under control to bother to. Sitting back, Sollux leaned down to press kisses against the inside of his leg and rubbed at a bruise he'd left from squeezing too hard at one point.

"Stop. That tickles..."

He grinned against the smooth skin as Eridan's hoarse voice sounded and he moved up instead to lay next to him, "Thorry." He stared quietly back at the violet eyes focused on him and reached out a hand to brush aside the curls of hair in his face, moving closer to press a kiss agianst his forehead.

As the hand still lingered on his cheek, Eridan shimmied his way underneath the arm and tucked himself against Sollux with a incoherent mumble.

"Huh?" Sollux mused, looking down at the groggy hipster cuddled up to him.

Another mumble and then he was quiet.

Sollux listened to his steady breathing before smiling and shutting his own eyes, deciding to pretend he hadn't heard the bashful 'I love you' uttered seconds before.


	4. Chapter 4

A sneeze sounded through the speaker of his cell phone and Sollux wrinkled his nose.

"You thound terrible."

"I _feel _terrible like oh my cod I seriously think I'm dyin' here, Sol. It's terminal and I have zero percent chance a' makin' it through this alive. Someone get me a fuckin' will so I can write down my last wishes."

Bicolored eyes rolled at the dramatic angst he was being fed.

It'd been a day or two since he'd been over at Eridan's house since he'd had work- unlike some rich assholes- and hadn't been able to go visit. However, it seemed Eridan's time outside rolling around in the snow had gotten him sick and it was just know plowing him over into submission on his couch.

A sniff sounded followed by a muffled whine of distress, "Sol, _pleeeease_."

Pursing his lips, the male shifted his phone over into the crook of his neck so he could flip the turn signal on the steering wheel.

"_Meh_. I'm not feeling it."

"Sol!"

"Thorry, ED."

"Oh my- _seriously_?!"

"I got important thingth to do today."

"What 'thingth'?!"

Oh, he was getting pissed wasn't he?

Sollux chuckled to himself at the frustration easing its way into Eridan's tone. As his car rolled to a stop and he pulled the keys from the ignition; shouldering the door open as he gathered a bag into his free arm.

"I can't believe you, Sol! I'm layin' here, wastin' away into nothin' and you won't even-"

"ED! _Thtop_. Holy fuck, I'm outthide, calm the fuck down."

The line fell silent for a moment as Sollux used his foot to kick his car door shut.

"Oh... Well, the key's underneath the mat."

He hung up the phone while heading up the sidewalk to Eridan's front door, stooping down for a moment to locate the key that Eridan had spoken of. The metal intrusion grated against the locks of the doorknob while Sollux twisted the handle and nudged the door open with his hip.

"You know that'th not a very thafe plathe to hide a key?"

"Like I fuckin' care."

He spared a brief glance up at Eridan...

Or what he assumed was Eridan. There was a ball huddled up underneath a fluffy, ivory-colored blanket and the only visible part that could be see was a tuft of violet poking up from underneath the covering.

"Hello to you too, my beautiful printheth."

He quickly ducked as a pillow was launched at his head and grinned toothily, "Ith that any way to thay hello?"

"Sol, I will _kill you_."

Grinning, Sollux made his way over and took a seat on the edge of the couch, setting the bag down on the ground before leaning back to place a hand on the mass underneath the blanket and rubbed his hand in circular motions, "Come on, ED. At leatht thit up."

After a few moments, the male pulled the blanket off his head and shimmied upright.

Sollux wasn't entirely sure whether to laugh or grimace.

His glasses had been abandoned on the edge of the couch while his hair was in a complete disarray compared to what it usually looked like. His complexion was almost as bad. He was paler than normal, the tip of his nose red and the dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than he'd last seen them.

The look on his face must've been prominent enough for Eridan to see even without his glasses because he was met with a groggy scowl.

"Don't you say a cod damn thing."

"I didn't even open my mouth!" He protested, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender.

Eridan let it drop and instead settled for climbing over onto Sollux's lap and curling up against him with a whine of distress.

"You really don't feel good, huh?" He mused, detecting the slight shivers radiating off Eridan's body.

"Feel like shit..." He mumbled into his boyfriend's chest.

Sollux chuckled, lifting a hand to rub the palm of his hand against Eridan's back, easily able to detect the heat radiating off him. Most likely caused by both the fever he was running and having been curled in one spot for too long. "That'th what you get for forthing me out into the cold with you."

He grunted as a fist connected weakly with his stomach and he carefully pried Eridan off of him, ignoring the noise of protest and placed him on the couch once more before picking up the bag. "Shut up. I'm making you thome thoup, okay?"

"Soup?" A weak chuckle sounded from Eridan, "The last time you tried to cook it ended in disaster."

A scowl crossed Sollux's face as he reached into the paper sack pulling out a can, "I'm pretty sure I know how to heat thome fucking chicken noodle thoup."

After a heated debate over the quality of canned soups and the uncultured swine that would stoop to such a level to actually eat it- and some threatening to to pour it on him if he didn't comply- Eridan finally gave in and accepted the bowl of soup, slurping down a noodle between his lips with a pout.

"Ith it ath bad ath you thought it would be?"

"...Not really."

Eridan eventually had fallen asleep against Sollux's leg, the empty bowl placed on the coffee table next to Dimitri's bowl. Sollux's feet were propped up alongside it while watching the movie playing on the flat screen, an arm draped loosely over Eridan next to him.

A soft sigh sounded through the quiet murmurings of conversation on the television and the male underneath his arm stirred, rolling over to tug the blanket around him further.

Sollux had given him some of the medicine he'd bought prior to coming over almost an hour ago and it hadn't taken but ten minutes for the shit to kick in and he was out like a light.

Removing his arm, he stood, stooping over to gather together the bundle that was Eridan and his stupid lilac blanket. After some maneuvering, he managed to get Eridan grasped in his hold with a huff, "I'm way too tired for thith shit..." He breathed, making his way off down the hall.

It took a few bumps from his shoulder and nearly tripping over his own foot before he located Eridan's room.

True to Aradia's words, it didn't reflect his financial standing at all. The walls were covered in posters and a few- Sollux would swear his heart stopped from joy- Minecraft posters. If the hipster douche actually played minecraft like his posters suggested he was going to kiss him until he couldn't breathe holy shit.

He was less than pleased to see the presence of a few Pirates of the Caribbean ones though. Interestingly enough there were actually some tactical maps from various famous battles in history mixed in with the rest that he could spot out.

With some difficulty, he managed to maneuver around the chair of his desk that had been pushed aside from his oak desk which was covered with text books and his expensive fucking laptop.

Rich assholes...

Setting him down on the bed, Sollux took a moment to pull back his comforter and tucked him in before turning back to the shelves across the room. Upon closer inspection he found he had every copy of the Harry Potter series lined up on the shelves. In hard back, of course. No flimsy paper for this rich fucker. Right next to them however was another book labeled _'Connection of Science and Magic'_.

"Oh my god you fucking would, ED..." He mused, lifting a hand to trail his fingers over the spines. Most of what he found was historical though. A lot of them being books about various wars and a few about pirates. He also spotted the old book he'd been reading that one day about, who was it, Dualscar? Yeah, that sounded right. He must've borrowed it to read on his own time.

Sollux looked back over his shoulder to Eridan as he heard the bed shit as he flopped over onto his other side. Watching him for a moment, Sollux smirked, "Night, ED." He commented, shutting the door behind him as he left.

A few days later, Eridan was feeling better and able to get up and move around without complaining over feeling nauseous.

The same couldn't be said for Sollux.

Of course, he should've suspected that his shitty excuse of an immune system would prove little resistance to what bug Eridan had caught.

As of now, he was laid up on the couch in his apartment. When he'd answered the phone that morning with a congested nose and a cough to boot, his boyfriend, surprisingly, hadn't hesitated to come over and take care of him.

_After _he'd finished teasing him about how stupid his lisp sounded when he was congested.

Fucking asshole.

Sollux still wasn't sure how he felt about Eridan being in his tiny living space and tiny kitchen and everything was completely petty in comparison to Eridan's lavish abode. The thought had given him knots in his stomach at first and his insides still twisted uncomfortably whenever Eridan disappeared into the kitchen to go get him something.

But, despite his constant nagging worry, Eridan had said nothing besides commenting on how fucking messy it was and holy fuckin' hell Sol do you ever clean up?

He'd smacked his butt for that one when he passed him, snickering into his blankets at the yelp that sounded in response.

But when Eridan insisted he scoot over, Sollux had no problem with that. His thin frame granted enough space for Eridan to shimmy under the covers with him, arms wrapping around his shivering boyfriend with a hum.

"You're gonna get thick again..." Sollux mumbled into his chest, sniffling softly.

"Clearly you know nothin', Sol. I gave you this cold in the first place. I don't think I can catch the same thing twice. But if you smear snot on my shirt I swear to cod I will drug you so hard on Benadryl you'll be babbling incoherently for days."

"Rude." Sollux pouted in response before burying his face into Eridan's shirt with a loud sniff only to grunt as ringed fingers grabbed a handful of hair and tugged.

They laid there in silence. Sollux soaking up the warmth coming off of Eridan and Eridan attempting to smooth down Sollux's messy hair. Gradually, the cold medicine he'd taken earlier began to drag down his willpower to stay awake and he let his eyes slip shut.

"I hate winter..."

"Well I hate summer so fuck you, Sol."

"You only hate it 'cauthe it'th hot and thweat meththeth up your hair and clotheth."

"Damn fuckin' right."

A groggy chuckle sounded from Sollux before he let an arm sneak out to wrap around Eridan's waist.

After a while, Eridan noted the steady breaths puffing against the front of his shirt and he smiled, ducking his head to press a few kisses against Sollux's temple as he smoothed back his hair.

Settling back down, his gaze turned to the window behind the couch, watching the snowflakes falling from the sky as he idly played with the flips of Sollux's hair until, he too, fell off into sleep.


End file.
